Iran arrests 8 more terrorists over Tehran attacks

An Iranian judicial official says eight more individuals have been arrested in Iran in connection with the recent terrorist attacks in the capital, Tehran.

Ahmad Fazelian, with the Justice Department of Iran’s Alborz Province, said on Saturday that the eight were accused of having provided backup for the five terrorists who carried out the two terrorist attacks in Tehran on Wednesday.

Fazelian said seven of the individuals arrested had been nabbed in Fardis, in southern Alborz, and the remaining one had been apprehended in Karaj, the provincial capital.

The Wednesday attacks involved gunmen storming Iran’s Parliament (Majlis) and the Mausoleum of the late founder of the Islamic Republic, Imam Khomeini, in two coordinated attacks. At least 17 people lost their lives and nearly 50 others were wounded in the assaults, which involved shootings and blasts. Daesh claimed responsibility for the attacks.

All the five assailants involved were subsequently killed by Iranian security forces.

On Thursday, a day after the attacks, the Iranian Intelligence Ministry released the identities of the five assailants, who it said had participated in the terrorist activities of Daesh in the Iraqi city of Mosul and the Syrian city of Raqqah in the past.

Iranian intelligence and security forces have stepped up their activities following the attacks, identifying and arresting other suspects and foiling terrorist plots.

Iranians attend the funeral of the victims of the Wednesday terrorist attacks in Tehran, in the Iranian capital, Friday, June 9, 2017. (Photo by AFP)

The Intelligence Ministry said in a statement on Friday that 41 elements of the Wahhabi Daesh terrorist group had been identified and arrested before they could manage to conduct any act of terror. During the operation to arrest the terrorists, large amounts of weapons, bomb-making materials, explosive belts, communication equipment, and forged documents had also been found, it added.

Other terrorists arrested

Separately, Iran’s Police Chief Brigadier General Hossein Ashtari said the members of a terrorist team had been identified and arrested on the outskirts of Tehran on Saturday morning.

He cited the “good cooperation” of the Iranian people with police and other security forces as having been conducive to the identification and arrest of the terrorists.

On Friday, Iranians held a massive funeral ceremony for the victims of the terrorist incidents.